No Longer Mere Chattel: The Rising Status of Pets in Family Law

I am surprised it hadn't happened before, but I'm certainly not surprised that it now appears to have finally happened in California: as reported a few days ago by California lawyer John Harding in his post California Divorce Blawg: Power To The Pets, Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed into law, on September 11, 2007, a California statute that gives pets a status somewhat similar to that of